Re: Computing Editorial (please read)

[BJ <dontspamme@nosirree.net>]

On Sun, 09 Feb 2003 11:47:15 GMT, Glen <lpepicel@nycap.rr.com> wrote:

>
>
>> 
>> Only among certain classes of people. What percentage of homes do you
>> think have PCs? Even in the USA, it is less than 1/4. And normal "old
>> fashioned" serial and parallel ports are gradually being eliminated from
>> new PCs.
>> 
>
>
>A lot of people do share this concern about PCs and the "technology 
>divide" along class lines.
>
>However Walmart is selling Windows PCs for $300 and Linux PCs for $200. 
>  This extends the price of a great thing down to the level that someone 
>making 20,000 a year could afford.
>
>So the cost of hardware is no longer the problem.  Now it is mostly an 
>education gap.
>
>Glen.
Linux PCs for $200? I just bought their cheapest model back in late
December, a Lindows PC for $299, with 256mb ram, P4 800mhz, seemed
like a deal.
Except that the quality of everything from the mouse to the keyboard
is 'mickey mouse' (I can forgive this), the 'Lindows' OS severely
'sucks'. It wasn't ready for release. Some software is even missing
from the install  (or even from a clean re-install off the rescue cd).
Samba Status 'settings' - 'advanced' - 'information' you receive
'Samba version 2.23a-6.lindows 1 for Debian Error: Unable to run
showmount." I tried in a shell with same result, tried to find
'showmount', it isn't even installed, even after a clean re-install of
Lindows.
And, if you configure it to use DHCP, to obtain it's IP address from
another computer, the whole machine runs like a 40 mhz 486! (actually
slower - you click to start an app, go get a drink, come back and wait
for it to start). It sped up to almost the speed of my Pentium 200
running Win98 when I setup a static IP, but it is an 800mhz machine!
(No, it didn't run any faster when delivered before I plugged it into
my network).
You have to 'select a membership level' to get anything but a 'bots'
answer on their feedback support site (actually, they _tell_ you not
to expect a reply, so maybe I was lucky).  Here you need to
differentiate between levels. For $99, you get access to the software
warehouse. This doesn't give you technical support, just access to
software, much of which is crap that comes as free or easily
obtainable for other Linux versions. Lindows has very little installed
as applications if you look via the start menu. Alot are 'links'
('Click-n-run')  that allow download if you are a 'junior member'
(limited downloads - what Walmart gives you with the machine), or a
full member ($99/year). For technical support,  'Insider membership'
costs $299, 'Builder' costs $500. I know these are 'one-time' fees,
but they are more than I'm willing to pay for support for a broken,
unready product.
I even had an issue where the windows (lindows) GUI started acting
quirky, when I clicked my mouse, it selected something about .25" to
the left of where I clicked. So when I clicked 'Add Group' in the
adduser GUI, it popped up the box for 'delete user'. Similarly, I had
to click about .25" to the right of an 'x' to close a 'lindow'. And a
quick restart didn't fix this issue, I had to reboot.
Anyway, within three days of receipt, the computer was on its way back
to Walmart for a refund.